The Grand Defender
On Chrome, the party finishes preperations for their expedition to the dwarven citadel. In the harbour, they see a heavily damaged galleon coming in to dock. The ship is scarred with scorch marks and the mast has been cracked in half. Many of the crew are injured. Capo questions the crew to learn of their fate, and the half-orc captain explains they were contracted to clear out the gossamer: giant jellyfish-like creatures that were distrupting industry in a nearby asteroid belt, when they were ambushed by kobold pirates. They managed to escape behind a shoal of gossamer and limped home. Resident ship alchemist Melanie requests a leave of absence to travel to the desert planet Blastier below to collect a rare spice she requires for one of her creations. They agree to meet back up in Chrome when they finish their mission. Following Mondool's directions, they search for the citadel. But the area is large and initial attempts are fruitless. Deciding to reorient himself using one of the system's many asteroid belts as a landmark. In the belt, they spot a massive ship lurking in the rocks. Shaped like a turtle with long, sharp claws, the party decides to avoid the impressive Gamaro ship and continue their search. Finlly, they find it. A mountain-sized chunk of rock drifting slowly through space. The face is carved with a gargantuan dwarven visage wielding an axe aloft. They find an entrance in the mouth of the dwarf and fly their ship into it's depths, finding a berth to dock their ship within. They decide to bring a few companions. Hanz, Brugo, Grogon and Orok the newest orc recuits. Mr. Jaggs, who is eager to prove his fighting prowess. Estrom, one of the original animal crewmen and skilled archer. Argos requests to come along for the chance to learn about his distant space-dwarf relatives, and Latwick and Pattro come along to get a piece of the riches. The party navigates the dark stone corridor before reaching a deep chasm. A stone bridge crosses the gap ending in an immense stone door with intricate s carvings of dwarves. Rivers of magma come out of grates on either side of the door before flowing over the ledge. Four statues of dwarves stand on pillars that shoot off from the main bridge. The statues are of the dwarven dieities Moradin and Berronar, and two dwarven leaders unknown to the party: Ulrist Mulgrave and Malia Ironskin. Before the stone door sits a huge metal dwarf wielding a warhammer and a shield. It's eyes glow red and as the party approaches a magic mouth appears and warns the party to leave before incuring Moradin's wrath. Capo turns invisible to investigate the construct but finds no obvious control mechanism. He instead moves and tries to open the door, but as soon as he touches it his invisibility is dispelled by an antimagic field on the threshold, drawing the defender's attention and the battle begins. The grand defender is a potent enemy with a powerful hammer strike, the ability to spout poison gas and fire warhammers from it's mouth, and shed it's outer layer to reveal another golem made of different materials with different properties while the shell rejoins the fight. Additionally two more constructs emerge from the statues, squat, stone monsters with whirling blade arms. Capo supports the party with his song and healing while summoning lightning elementals into the fray, while zook hands out enlarge person, haste and bull's strength like they're Werther's originals. Yorick rallies his crewmates to push the mithril inner form of the grand defender into one of the magma flows and zook casts a wall of force to prevent it from escaping while it melts away. Hanz and Brugo are killed in the battle, but the defenders are defeated. The party has overcome the first challenge of the citadel but what other surprises lie within? 'Next Session: 'Dungeons & Dragons